Hardcore punk: Encyclopedia II - Hardcore punk - The Big 3

Hardcore punk - The Big 3

Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life traces hardcore back to three bands: He calls LA’s Black Flag (formed in 1976) the music’s “godfathers”; he credits the Bad Brains, formed in Washington, D.C. in 1978, with introducing their often astonishingly fast “light speed” tempos; and calls Minor Threat, another Washington, D.C. group formed in 1980, the “definitive” hardcore punk band.

The Bad Brains were a young African-American band from Washington, DC, with a background in soul and funk, but also an interest in bands such as Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols. Their eponymous first album (originally a cassette-only release on ROIR, in 1981), has been called the “holy grail” of hardcore. A similarly esteemed single, “Pay to Cum” b/w “Stay Close to Me” preceded it in 1980.

Black Flag has been called “for all intents and purposes, America’s first hardcore band. It has also been said that "the group played an essential role in the development and popularization of American punk." The band had a major impact on the scene with their complex, confrontational sound and DIY ethical stance. They were mostly notable for featuring future Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris, and former State Of Alert singer Henry Garfield, who changed his name to Henry Rollins after joining the band.

Often cited as the definitive hardcore band are The Teen Idles, formed in 1978 in Washington, D.C. On bass and drums were future Minor Threat members Ian Mackaye and Jeff Nelson, respectively. The band played an aggressive, fast form of punk that was already being described as "hardcore". The band was also responsible for jump-starting the straight edge movement through their use of the X as a symbol for clean living. After the band broke up, Mackaye gathered their tour money and began Dischord Records chiefly to put out the Teen Idles recorded material as the Minor Disturbance EP.

Other early notable bands

Rhino 39’s 1979 “Xerox” b/w “No Compromise”/“Prolixin Stomp” single has also been noted as a hardcore landmark. The Germs’ 1979 GI LP is essentially a hardcore record, not only for its quick tempos but especially for its notably fast chord changes, while the Circle Jerks’ first album, from 1980, features both blinding chord changes and tempos. The Germs had actually been called "hardcore" early in their career.

Several bands in the Los Angeles area in the late 1970s released records whose style has been cited as functionally identical to what would later be called "hardcore." The most striking is the Middle Class’s thrashing Out of Vogue EP from 1978.

The Misfits, from northern New Jersey, were a ’77 punk band involved in New York’s Max's Kansas City scene, whose ironic horror-movie aesthetic was hugely popular among early hardcore aficionados. In 1981, the Misfits responded by integrating high-speed thrash songs into their set. Hüsker Dü was formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1978, as a thrash band, releasing their first recordings in 1981. Their early recorded output has been called a “breakneck force like no other… Not for the faint of heart.” [1] Soon after, though, the band morphed into one of the top rated indie rock bands of the era.

By 1981 and 82, hardcore bands were cropping up all over the country, including The Neos, from Victoria, British Columbia; The Fix, from Detroit; The Necros, from Maumee, Ohio; Strike Under, The Effigies, and Naked Raygun from Chicago; The Dicks and Big Boys, from Austin, Texas.

Important records of the period include The Adolescents’ first eponymous LP, the NYC compilation The Big Apple Rotten To The Core, the Boston-area This Is Boston, Not L.A. compilation, the Zero Boys' LP, the Detroit-area Process of Elimination compilation EP, Negative Approach's eponymous EP, The Necros’ IQ 32, SS Decontrol’s Kids Will Have Their Say, the New York Thrash cassette compilation, the DC-area Flex Your Head compilation, the Northern California Not So Quiet on the Western Front double-LP compilation, the Chicago-area Busted at OZ compilation, and the Fartz’s Because This Fuckin’ World Stinks LP.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Big 3", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki